Turnbull also said that what they’re proposing is better. He recommends abandoning the NBN project in favor of the several technologies that the Coalition is proposing. He said that the Coalition is focusing on the quality of the services, and they won’t be relying on a single technology in order to offer quality services.

He also reiterated his belief that they can construct a national broadband quicker and cheaper. He explained that this can be achieved by having a mixture of different technologies that will be easier to implement in order to achieve the upgrades.

Analysts are saying that the Coalition has no concrete proof that they can roll out a national broadband program quicker and cheaper. There’s no business model of what they’re currently planning and even analyst Paul Budde are saying that the Coalition’s option could “cost Australia significantly more in the future”.

Conroy was more than happy to issue a rebuttal to Turnbull’s claim that heavyweights like Google and Facebook didn’t need a service similar to the NBN to be successful. A spokesman for the Senator issued a statement on his behalf.

“Instead of making bold claims about what the US is doing, Malcolm Turnbull should speak to US innovators,” he said.

Conroy also pointed out that Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt is a big fan of the NBN program, saying that Australia is at the forefront of realizing the potentials of fibre. He called Australia’s leadership with regards to fibre as “wonderful”.

Schmidt has also said that investments for the NBN are considered as highest-leverage investments that Australia can make especially since it also helps in other facets of society.

In addition, analysts are also with the NBN, saying that the project has potential. They recognize that businesses and individuals are now starting to realise the potentials of the program.

He acknowledged that since the NBN is basically a new product, there will be apprehensions and uncertainties. He stated that it’s part of their job to show and prove to the customers that they’re making the right move by taking advantage of the NBN.

Ross clarified that NBN Co will be the one to connect the fibre-optic cable to the street and the property that they’re servicing. However, he said that the internet service provider will take over from there, and will be the one to connect the modem to the residents if they do choose to make that upgrade.

To answer the concerns that installation will take a long time, Ross clarified that it will only take a few hours. It will all depend on the customer’s requirements and the dimensions of his or her home.

Ross recommended that the customers prepare for the NBN, and the best way to do it is to check out the services that they’re looking at. He said to take several things into consideration, including the power, demands, and personal requirements of the customer. He said that by knowing these things, the installation will be more effective and efficient.

This recommendation is reinforced by Tricia Wilson, the general manager for Telstra North West Area. She said that it’s important that customers know the capabilities of the NBN so that they can take advantage of the services fully.

Ross also said that there’s no reason for concern as to whether the phone lines will be disconnected during the installation process. He said that the two networks are not connected in Armidale, with the phone lines being a part of a detached network.

Despite the apprehensions, Wilson has shared that feedback have been “extremely positive”. He said that the customers who took advantage of the trial are acknowledging that they can now do more at home with their connection.

It wasn’t long before the truck captured the attention of residents, as even councillors joined the group session.

The most pressing question is about the expected timeframe for the roll-out. Goulburn is three years away from having the network rolled out there. However, this didn’t kill the excitement for the program, as customers have shown sincere interest in finding out more about the program and coming up with ways on how the services can help them with their businesses.

The representatives answered by asking the residents to have patience. Nichola Parker, tasked to present the information about the NBN, even said that it hasn’t been rolled out in her area yet.

Parker also called for the residents to be more willing to learn about the NBN and what it’s offering. She also said that even if Goulburn is not scheduled for the rollout until three years from now, it doesn’t mean that they’re not getting broadband. NBN is in three formats – fibre, satellite, and wireless internet.

As of the day’s close, the shares of the phone company increased by 1.9% to close at $3.71 per share. These numbers signify the company’s highest since February 2009.

The increase was brought upon by reports of government payments reinforcing the phone company’s dividend yields. Said yield is at 7.7%, a percentage that signifies the amount of earnings gotten from dividends in comparison with the price of the share.

According to reports, the NBN program will be funding a 28c dividend for the financial year that will be ending on June 30^th. The same dividend will also be issued for the next fiscal year.

The phone company’s strong performance was a direct contrast of the wider market that suffered from a weak close. The said market was pulled down by losses in stock resources as investors became worried of uncertainties in the European market.

The ASX 200 index fell down by 30.7 points to settle at 4266.3 points, or a 0.71% decline. On the other hand, the All Ordinaries index suffered a 0.82% decline, settling at 4316.3 points after sliding down by 35.6 points.

It’s estimated that 93% of these homes will be connected via fibre cables, with the rest connected to either fixed wireless or satellite services.

In order to show users what they can expect, NBN Co also gave out free trials of its services to homes located in Tamworth, Toowoomba and Armidale. During the trial users accessed 12 mbps download speeds and 1 mbps upload speeds. The trial started last April and will end on October.

The trial speeds are already faster than what these users are currently getting. In addition to the three areas; Darwin, Geraldton and Ballarat will also be getting the trial services.

The trial uses a 4G connection that was set up to provide access to a specific number of residences and businesses. Each of these premises will be getting its own wireless receiver.

It seems that this is just a sign of things to come, as a spokesman for NBN Co said that higher speeds will be made available as soon as upgrades to the network are finished.

Senator Stephen Conroy also issued a statement saying that the government, thanks to the NBN program, will be able to offer uniform wholesale pricing all over the nation. This basically means that users will be paying the same prices for these services no matter where they’re located.

In the said speech, Abbott has questioned the logic in spending $50 billion for a project that can lead to customers paying three times more than what they’re paying today, mainly for speeds that customers may not need. He also questioned the rationale behind digging up streets, when he said that there’s a quicker, and better option. He also said that with the cost of the project, upgrades to current facilities including the Perth Airport can be done and the Government will still have enough to set up a speedier broadband service.

Senator Stephen Conroy quickly issued a rebuttal, slamming Abbott for his comments and saying that he is “plain wrong”. Conroy also suggested that Abbott should check his facts first before issuing a statement.

Conroy provided the existing NBN services as an example, saying that these services are equal to, or even cheaper in price than the existing ADSL plans. As an example, he said that Skymesh is offering a $29.95 per month service. On the other hand, Exetel is offering $35.00 per month for its entry-level NBN plan.

Image Courtesy of CeBIT Australia

Conroy also said that we have the NBN to thank for the competitive prices, as it encourages competition among these providers.

As for the project cost being better spent elsewhere, Conroy said that the NBN is classified as an equity investment under international accounting standards rather than as a budget expense. Because of this, the investment made cannot be simply used to put up more roads or to upgrade existing facilities. To add, he said that the Government has set aside $36 billion for infrastructure and investments.

Along with these high-speed connection hubs, a dozen jobs are expected to be made
available. In addition to the six, they expect a steady demand for telco engineers and technical staff. They will also employ more people for construction. These jobs are among the tens of thousands of jobs that will be generated by the National Broadband Network program.

The two locations were chosen due to their close proximities to the locations chosen by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission. The group released their preferred locations for these Points of Interconnect, including the Reynella and Gepps Cross regions. These regions were selected because it’s not logical to share with the Telstra exchange buildings.

The Lonsdale location will be in O’Sullivans Beach Rd, where an old facility exists. The facility will be knocked down to give way to the new facility that will be constructed with the facility’s main purposes in mind.

With the decision of the NBN Co to set up its own facility, it ends the offer of Tier5 to share its new facility at Tonsley Park. The said facility is in the process of being constructed.

While a spokesman for the NBN said that Tier5 came in too late with their offer, the spokesman said that data centres as a whole are expected to gain a lot of additional businesses from the $36 billion project. The spokesman also said that these centres are playing an important role in the improvements of cloud computing.

“In simple terms, that involves running applications, such as accounts, payroll and sales, on someone else’s equipment and accessing them online (which) means that all you need to run your business is a PC and reliable access to the internet, which is the whole reason for building the NBN in the first place,” he said.

NBN Co also announced that there will be a uniform pricing scheme for all three technologies that they are offering. This means that the location won’t be taken into consideration for the prices of the fixed wireless, next-generation satellite and optic fibre services. It doesn’t matter where the service will be offered. Service providers will have to pay a uniform amount for the service that they want to offer.

This is why the Australian government is fully expecting affordable prices. In the past, people in remote locations had to pay a lot of money for services, as service providers had to pay a lot of money to offer them. But with the uniform pricing scheme, the government is saying that consumers can expect affordable prices, especially since this scheme will encourage competitive retail pricing by the service providers as they aim to attract consumers.

A lot of experts are saying that this wholesale access scheme is the key to competitive retail pricing. The Australian government agrees as they also acknowledged that this will greatly influence the prices. This was confirmed when several NBN pricing plans were released, as they showed that they’re very competitive even against prices of older technologies like ADSL.

As of today, there are over 50 active service providers that are ready to connect you to the National Broadband Network. This number is expected to increase, as more service providers are looking to take advantage of the friendly pricing scheme.

It’s been said that priority will be given to rural and regional areas in Australia, as one of the goals of the program is to provide high-speed broadband access even to the remotest parts of Australia. The goal of the NBN and the Australian government is to provide fibre optic services to 93% of all residences and businesses in Australia. The rest will be using fixed-wireless services or satellite services. This should be finished by 2021, the end of the 10-year rollout period.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy issued a statement regarding the location. “This ground station will act as an essential satellite gateway, helping deliver fast broadband to rural and remote communities across Australia,” he said.

Bourke is the second site announced, with Wolumla in the northsouthwest South Coast being the first one announced back in April. This announcement was made a few days after a statement was released on how these locations are chosen.

Several things were taken into consideration. Things like logistics, engineering and practicality where considered. In addition, these considerations have to be in line with the objectives of the government regarding the policy.

These factors were added together to a mathematical algorithm. Biarri, an Australian company, developed the software that’s used to determine the best course of action as far as location and sequence are concerned.

The government wanted the construction to be spread out across metropolitan and rural areas in compliance with their goals of providing high-speed broadband access to all Australians regardless of their location. The government also wanted the construction to happen across all territories in all the states.

For its part, NBN Co added that priority should be given to areas with more new developments. This is to ensure a streamlined process wherein installation of new technologies doesn’t overlap with recently-installed technologies. NBN Co is also working hard to finish the transit network on or before 2015, to make sure that they’re able to link up the 121 points of interconnect all over Australia.

According to Mr Willett, the NBN will actually encourage providers to differentiate themselves from their competitors by offering better and more varied services and prices.

The commissioner’s statement is a direct answer to the comments made by John Lindsay that there’s a possibility that there will only be six “real” service providers of NBN Co in the future, minimizing competition that can lead to higher prices and bad services. Mr Lindsay is the CTO of Internode.

Mr Lindsay pointed out the fact that smaller Internet service providers won’t be able to afford the lease of fibre backhaul that is necessary to meet the mandate set by the ACCC that ISPs must connect to 121 separate points. Add that to the fact that they also have to pay a bandwidth charge for each of these points and Mr Lindsay made a doomsday assessment that “the days of the back-room ISPs are well and truly over”.

Mr Willett further explained that instead of focusing all their resources in their broadband offerings, service providers will instead focus on bundling their products and improving their services. This will lead to healthy competition among the providers, with the end consumers winning in the end.

As an example of product bundles, providers can focus on providing a “quad play” bundle wherein providers can offer phone services, mobile, Internet services and video-on-demand in one package. Optus has already established itself a first player in this competition, as it’s already offering a “triple play” package.

However, Mr Willett did admit that they’re seeing fewer competitors in the future. He said that they’re seeing that there will be fewer competitors but they will be offering a wider variety of products and services. This is instead of having more competitors offering the same thing. To add, Mr Willett said that competition is not just about counting the players in the market.